Modern Zippo lighters are much more complex than you would think. In short this is how your Zippo works: The flint wheel is spun causing a spark in the wick; The tube passing all the way from the inner part of the Zippo to the wick contains the fuel used for the Zippo’s ignition; When lit, fuel is constantly passing through the previously mentioned tube at a slow rate to make it burn slowly. Due to the nature of the Zippo’s fuel, this whole process is very slow, but that is good because it helps save fuel.

Even though this might seem like a simple thing to accomplish, take note that a modern Zippo lighter contains in between 22 and 40 pieces. In order to make a Zippo lighter, more than 110 different manufacturing operations are required.